Picture a startup with twelve employees, a functioning SaaS product, and a growing customer base. Security matters, but not one person carries “compliance manager” in their job title. Soon, a prospective enterprise customer wants to see a SOC 2 report.
So, where do you begin?
For founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification, the first step is not to download dozens of policies straight away. Start by making a few decisions that determine what your company needs to document, put in place, and prove.
Decide What Your First Audit Should Cover
SOC 2 evaluates controls against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria. These include Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Every SOC 2 report includes Security. Add the remaining categories only when they’re relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. If a startup is offering a straightforward business application, beginning with Security alone may be enough, provided that scope meets customer expectations.
The applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved should be listed before anyone starts collecting evidence. Making the scope unnecessarily broad creates extra work, but it doesn’t necessarily improve the report’s usefulness.
Choose the Report That Matches Your Deadline
People searching for how to get SOC 2 certified often discover two reporting options. Type 1 looks at the design of controls as of a specified date. Type 2 goes further, examining design and operating effectiveness throughout a defined period. When an enterprise customer needs evidence quickly, Type 1 can be a useful starting point, so long as the customer accepts it.
For businesses investigating how to get SOC 2 type 2 certification, the process includes an observation period, usually three to twelve months, followed by an independent examination. Type 2 doesn’t require a Type 1 report first. Find out what your customer requires before paying for either examination.
Fix Everyday Security Gaps First
When security controls are linked to ordinary business activities, SOC 2 preparation gets more manageable. A sensible place to start is enforcing multi-factor authentication for important accounts, establishing a documented employee offboarding process, and reviewing access permissions on a regular basis.
Evidence of production changes and approvals should be kept by engineering teams. Risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews should be documented by leadership. Policies must reflect what employees actually do. A beautifully written procedure offers limited value if nobody follows it.
Organize Evidence Before It Becomes a Problem
SOC 2 for saas companies means demonstrating that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently. You might be asked for records showing when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.
Reconstructing these records months later is far harder than collecting them as activities occur. Small teams can organize this work with CertAssist’s built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage.
There is no need for direct integrations with company systems. Teams upload evidence themselves and can give auditors read-only access.
Why SOC 2 Requires an Independent Auditor
Strictly speaking, SOC 2 is an attestation rather than a certification. A licensed CPA firm performs the examination and issues the SOC 2 report. Nothing replaces the independent auditor, not even compliance software, though it helps prepare and organize evidence.
A monthly promotional subscription of US$225 that covers SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks is offered by CertAssist. Fees for the independent audit are separate. Request an auditor’s quote that reflects your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period before you set a budget.
Keep the Process Sustainable After the First Report
Finishing a SOC 2 examination isn’t the end of your security activities. Team members join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers become part of your operations. Controls have to stay relevant.
Three habits help: assigning clear responsibilities, retaining evidence throughout the year, and periodically reviewing whether your documented procedures match reality. For a growing startup, that discipline makes future examinations easier while supporting the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.